Arrakis, North Dakota

One of my regrets from this year is that I watched the “Dune” movies (part 1 and part 2) prior to reading the original novel “Dune” by Frank Herbert. On the other hand, it was the quality production and captivating story of the films that compelled me to pick up the book. While both media are valuable, I highly recommend starting with the book so that the cinematographic approximations of Paul Atreides’ struggles on the desert planet, Arrakis, do not cloud the vivid picture communicated in the original text.

While reading, a number of deep parallels emerged for me between our state of North Dakota and the fictional planet of Arrakis. Consider the geography; the historian Walter Prescott Webb defined the Great Plains as “flat, treeless and arid.” With the exception of some rocky outcroppings, is this not a description of Arrakis?

In 1823, Major Stephen H. Long called this place “The Great American Desert.” Furthermore, Arthur Conan Doyle’s novelem“A Study in Scarlet” includes the remark, “In the central portion of the great North American Continent there lies an arid and repulsive desert, which for many a long year served as a barrier against the advance of civilisation…. [with] the common characteristics of barrenness, inhospitality, and misery.” Perhaps some NDSU students from the lake-lands, forests, coasts or mountains have also made such a remark.

Nevertheless, for those who live in North Dakota, our home is greater than what it is not (devoid of mountain, forest and substantial water). We know this place as more than fly-over country. Like unto the “Dune” planet, this sparsely populated land has a rich (albeit often hidden) interiority of lifeways, culture and spirituality. The industrial center of “Dune” is the megalopolis Carthag. Analogous to Fargo? And the “Dune” capital is found in Arrakeen. Being that it’s smaller than Carthag, it’s easier to operate government administration in this city. Bismarck? Outside the “Dune” cities, how can we fail to see the Fremen as a parallel for the indigenous inhabitants of this region? These fierce people are compelled by outside imperialistic powers to inhabit the margins of society. And in that space, they hold to an ecological vision that aims towards a more sustainable way of living on their planet.

The political dimensions of “Dune” are frightening precisely because they are so relatable. Who hasn’t noticed the outside interest in the resources of this region? Just as “Dune’s” Great Houses ceaselessly compete for the privilege of access to Arrakis’ wealth, have not numerous political action committees poured out-of-state funding into North Dakota elections?

While there are surely many more points of comparison, I’d like to close with a final mention of the valuable spice Melange found beneath the Arrakis sands. Does this not exploited commodity represent oil? Initially, when reading “Dune,” the spice’s application seems to be in its geriatric and psychotropic properties. However, it becomes clear that the real addiction to spice is its usage for intergalactic travel. Imagine what our global, continental and regional travel would look like without oil? Recent events surrounding the Strait of Hormuz help us get a picture.

Most readers of “Dune” picture Arrakis as a sort of planetary Saharan desert. I suggest that for readers from the Dakota territory, our own region affords germane visual context. I realize that this thesis flies in contrast to the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources website that announces “North Dakota has several areas of fairly good-sized sand dunes. None remotely like the ones described by [Frank] Herbert on the planet Dune” (dmr.nd.gov/dmr/ndgs/sand-dunes). On the other hand, is this not precisely the sort of subterfuge we could expect from the CHOAM Company?